Key definitions

Aquaculture: the rearing of aquatic animals or the cultivation of aquatic plants for food.

Biotechnology: the exploitation of biological compounds and processes for industrial and other (in this case medical) purposes, especially the genetic manipulation of microorganisms for the production of antibiotics, hormones, medicines etc.

Blue health: benefits to human physical and mental health and well-being through interaction with coastal and marine environments, and land-based natural environments which incorporate water.

Blue space: a term used to refer to any space where there is visible water.

Blue zone: regions of the world (e.g. Okinawa, Japan and Icaria, Greece) where it has been claimed that people live much longer and healthier lives than on average, with the term first appearing in a National Geographic magazine cover story called “The Secrets of a Long Life”.

Citizen science: the collection and analysis of data relating to the natural world by members of the public, typically as part of a collaborative project with professional scientists.

Degradation: the process in which the quality of something is reduced.

Evidence: any scientifically based data produced and analyzed in a way that is supported by previous study, to enable a judiciary and transparent approach to decision-making using a cumulative weight of evidence.

Exposure: experience of or contact with something, in this case including locations, activities, and substances.

Green health: benefits to human physical and mental health and well-being through interaction with land-based natural environments.

Greenwashing: an unsubstantiated claim to deceive others into believing that products or practices are environmentally friendly.

Human health: the complete state of physical, social, and mental well-being, not merely the absence of illness, disease, or infirmity.

Interdisciplinary: combining two or more disciplines to a new level of integration suggesting component boundaries start to break down. There is a recognition that each discipline can affect the research output of the other.

Ocean literacy: an understanding of the ocean’s influence on you and your influence on the ocean.

Oceans: in this document this is used as the term for any marine space, both coastal and offshore.

Optimize: trade-offs for social, environmental and economic aspects have been considered to find the best and most balanced solution in a given context.

Pollution: the presence of or introduction into the environment of a substance or energy that has harmful or poisonous effects.

Public health: the branch of medicine dealing with public health, including hygiene, epidemiology, and disease prevention.

Sustainability: the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level, in this case applied not only to ocean ecosystems and natural resources but also to human society.

Sustainable access: equitable access to services and resources that is sustainable for the resource provider, and the resource user, and the resource itself.

Sustainable development: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987) in this case taking into account the “needs” of the ocean not just humans.

Transdisciplinary: two or more disciplines transcend each other to form a new holistic approach. The outcome will be completely different from what one would expect from the addition of the parts.